Apparatus, method, and computer readable medium for displaying vehicle information

ABSTRACT

A method for displaying vehicle information includes: setting a driving velocity and an inter-vehicle distance after activating a smart cruise control function; performing a smart cruise control according to the set driving velocity and the set inter-vehicle distance and displaying smart cruise control-related information in an augmented reality display region located in a front portion of a driver&#39;s own vehicle; comparing an actual inter-vehicle distance between the driver&#39;s own vehicle and a nearby vehicle to the set inter-vehicle distance during performance of the smart cruise control; determining an information displayable region in the augmented reality display region when the actual inter-vehicle distance is less than the set inter-vehicle distance; and displaying display information corresponding to the set inter-vehicle distance in the information displayable region.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of and priority to Korean PatentApplication No. 10-2014-0112415, filed on Aug. 27, 2014 in the KoreanIntellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporatedherein in its entirety by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to an apparatus and a method fordisplaying vehicle information, and more particularly, to an apparatusand a method for displaying vehicle information relating tointer-vehicle distance information on a limited augmented realitydisplay region of a head-up display (HUD) intended to be highlyrecognizable during a smart cruise control.

BACKGROUND

In general, a head-up display (HUD) mounted in a vehicle displaysinformation which is necessary for driving the vehicle on a windshieldglass of the vehicle. For example, the HUD displays vehicle informationsuch as vehicle velocity, driving warnings, rear-side warnings, smartcruise control (SCC) information, lane keeping assist system (LKAS)information, and the like. Since a driver may directly check necessarydriving information on the HUD while keeping his or her eyes forward(e.g., directed toward the road), the driver may minimize eye movement,thereby improving driving stability.

A conventional head-up display may implement augmented reality (AR) byoutputting a nearby vehicle mark representing a nearby vehicle (e.g., avehicle in front of, behind, to the side of, or otherwise proximate to adriver's own vehicle) sensed by the smart cruise control system, as wellas an inter-vehicle distance mark representing an inter-vehicle distancebetween the nearby vehicle and the driver's own vehicle, so as tooverlap real objects on a screen. Conventionally, when a smart cruisecontrol function is activated and a driver then sets an inter-vehicledistance, if an actual distance between the own vehicle and the nearbyvehicle is longer than the set inter-vehicle distance, there is noproblem with displaying the inter-vehicle distance information onaugmented reality display region of the HUD.

However, according to the related art, if the actual distance betweenthe own vehicle and the nearby vehicle is smaller than the setinter-vehicle distance, the inter-vehicle distance information may notbe displayed on the augmented reality display region. In this case, thefact that the set inter-vehicle distance is larger than the actualdistance has been conventionally displayed by displaying a step within adisplayable inter-vehicle distance information range on the augmentedreality display region and giving a blinking effect to a trapezoidalshape which is the most distant from the own vehicle. However, it isdifficult for drivers to clearly understand whether the above-mentionedblinking effect exhibits a difference between the actual inter-vehicledistance and the set inter-vehicle distance. In addition, according tothe related art, if a position of the nearby vehicle moves beyond theaugmented reality display region, it is difficult to display theinter-vehicle distance from the nearby vehicle, even in the case inwhich the inter-vehicle distance is set.

SUMMARY

An aspect of the present disclosure provides an apparatus and a methodfor displaying vehicle information relating to inter-vehicle distanceinformation on a limited augmented reality display region of a head-updisplay (HUD) intended to be highly recognizable during a smart cruisecontrol.

According to embodiments of the present disclosure, a method fordisplaying vehicle information includes: setting a driving velocity andan inter-vehicle distance after activating a smart cruise controlfunction; performing a smart cruise control according to the set drivingvelocity and the set inter-vehicle distance and displaying smart cruisecontrol related-information in an augmented reality display regionlocated in a front portion of a driver's own vehicle; comparing anactual inter-vehicle distance between the driver's own vehicle and anearby vehicle to the set inter-vehicle distance during performance ofthe smart cruise control; determining an information displayable regionin the augmented reality display region when the actual inter-vehicledistance is less than the set inter-vehicle distance; and displayingdisplay information corresponding to the set inter-vehicle distance inthe information displayable region.

The checking of the information displayable region may include:detecting a nearby vehicle region from a front image obtained by a frontcamera, and extracting the information displayable region, which iscapable of displaying the display information, except for a regioncorresponding to the nearby vehicle region, and a nearby vehicleindication information display region from the augmented reality displayregion.

In the displaying of the display information, the display informationmay be scaled depending on a size of the information displayable region.

The method may further include: checking whether or not the nearbyvehicle is outside of the augmented reality display region when theactual inter-vehicle distance is equal to or greater than the setinter-vehicle distance, and processing and displaying perspectiveinformation for the display information corresponding to the setinter-vehicle distance when the preceding vehicle is outside of theaugmented reality display region.

The processing and displaying of the perspective information mayinclude: measuring driving velocity of the nearby vehicle, checkingwhether or not the driving velocity of the nearby vehicle is slower thanthe set driving velocity, and processing the perspective information forthe display information when the driving velocity of the nearby vehicleis less than the set driving velocity.

The method may further include stopping the displaying of the displayinformation when the driving velocity of the preceding vehicle isgreater than the set driving velocity.

In the processing of the perspective information, the perspectiveinformation for the display information may be processed based on avehicle width of the nearby vehicle in a front image obtained by a frontcamera.

When the actual inter-vehicle distance is equal to the set inter-vehicledistance, color of the display information may be changed.

According to embodiments of the present disclosure, an apparatus fordisplaying vehicle information includes: a front camera configured tophotograph a front image of a vehicle; an inter-vehicle distancedetector configured to measure an inter-vehicle distance between thevehicle and a nearby vehicle; a vehicle information detector configuredto detect vehicle information associated with the vehicle; a smartcruise control system configured to control a smart cruise control ofthe vehicle using the inter-vehicle distance and the vehicleinformation; a display configured to display information relating to thesmart cruise control in an augmented reality display region of thevehicle; and a controller configured to: i) compare an actualinter-vehicle distance between the driver's own vehicle and a nearbyvehicle, which is measured by the inter-vehicle distance detector, to aset inter-vehicle distance which is preset and ii) output displayinformation corresponding to the set inter-vehicle distance to thedisplay based on the comparison.

The controller may be further configured to: i) extract an informationdisplayable region in the augmented reality display region that iscapable of displaying the display information when the actualinter-vehicle distance is less than the set inter-vehicle distance andii) display the display information in the extracted informationdisplayable region.

The controller may be further configured to extract the informationdisplayable region by excepting a nearby vehicle region from theaugmented reality display region using the front image and excepting aregion displaying nearby vehicle indication information indicating thenearby vehicle.

The controller may be further configured to scale the displayinformation based on a size of the information displayable region.

The controller may be further configured to: i) check whether or not thenearby vehicle is outside of the augmented reality display region usingthe front image when the actual inter-vehicle distance is equal to orgreater than the set inter-vehicle distance and ii) determine whether ornot the display information is displayed based on a driving velocity ofthe nearby vehicle when the nearby vehicle is outside of the augmentedreality display region.

The controller may be further configured to process perspectiveinformation for the display information based on a vehicle width of thenearby vehicle in the front image when the driving velocity of thenearby vehicle is slower than the set driving velocity.

The controller may be further configured to stop the outputting of thedisplay information when the driving velocity of the nearby vehicle isgreater than the set driving velocity.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the presentdisclosure will be more apparent from the following detailed descriptiontaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram of an apparatus for displayingvehicle information according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is an illustrative view showing display information for each setinter-vehicle distance step according to embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for describing a method for extracting informationdisplayable region according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing a method for displaying vehicleinformation according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is an illustrative view showing a process of scaling the setinter-vehicle distance display information according to embodiments ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of processing perspective for theset inter-vehicle distance display information according to embodimentsof the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described indetail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Thorough the specification, unless explicitly described to the contrary,the word “comprise” and variations such as “comprises” or “comprising”,will be understood to imply the inclusion of stated elements but not theexclusion of any other elements.

In addition, the terms “-er”, “-or”, “module”, and the like described inthe specification mean units for processing at least one function andoperation, and can be implemented by hardware, software, or combinationsthereof. In addition, “a or an”, “one”, “the” and similar related wordsmay be used to include both singular forms and plural forms unless thecontext clearly indicates otherwise, in the context (particularly, inthe context of the following claims) describing the present disclosure.

It is understood that the term “vehicle” or “vehicular” or other similarterm as used herein is inclusive of motor vehicles in general such aspassenger automobiles including sports utility vehicles (SUV), buses,trucks, various commercial vehicles, watercraft including a variety ofboats and ships, aircraft, and the like, and includes hybrid vehicles,electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, hydrogen-poweredvehicles and other alternative fuel vehicles (e.g. fuels derived fromresources other than petroleum). As referred to herein, a hybrid vehicleis a vehicle that has two or more sources of power, for example bothgasoline-powered and electric-powered vehicles.

Additionally, it is understood that the below methods may be executed byat least one controller. The term “controller” refers to a hardwaredevice that includes a memory and a processor. The memory is configuredto store program instructions, and the processor is configured toexecute the program instructions to perform one or more processes whichare described further below. Moreover, it is understood that the belowmethods may be executed by an apparatus comprising the controller,whereby the apparatus is known in the art to be suitable for displayingvehicle information relating to inter-vehicle distance information on anaugmented reality display region of a head-up display intended to behighly recognizable during a smart cruise control.

Furthermore, the controller of the present disclosure may be embodied asnon-transitory computer readable media on a computer readable mediumcontaining executable program instructions executed by a processor,controller or the like. Examples of the computer readable mediumsinclude, but are not limited to, ROM, RAM, compact disc (CD)-ROMs,magnetic tapes, floppy disks, flash drives, smart cards and optical datastorage devices. The computer readable recording medium can also bedistributed in network coupled computer systems so that the computerreadable media is stored and executed in a distributed fashion, e.g., bya telematics server or a Controller Area Network (CAN).

Specific terms used in embodiments of the present disclosure areprovided to help understandings of the present disclosure. The use ofthe specific terms may be changed into other forms without departingfrom the technical idea of the present disclosure.

The present disclosure relates to an augmented reality head-up display(AR-HUD) which displays display information relating to a nearby vehicle(e.g., a vehicle in front of, behind, to the side of, or otherwiseproximate to a driver's own vehicle) which is sensed by a smart cruisecontrol system on a reality screen which is watched by a driver's eye,where the display information overlaps the reality screen. Here, thedisplay information includes a nearby vehicle indication (e.g., a markor the like), an actual inter-vehicle distance between a nearby vehicleand an own vehicle, a set inter-vehicle distance, a set drivingvelocity, and the like, and is displayed in a form of an image, an icon,a figure, a symbol, a text, a graphic, or the like.

FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram of an apparatus for displayingvehicle information according to embodiments of the present disclosure,FIG. 2 is an illustrative view showing display information for each setinter-vehicle distance step according to embodiments of the presentdisclosure, and FIG. 3 is a diagram for describing a method forextracting information displayable region according to embodiments ofthe present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 1, the apparatus for displaying vehicle informationincludes a front camera 10, a display 20, a controller 30, aninter-vehicle distance detector 40, a vehicle information detector 50, asmart cruise control system 60, a driver manipulating detector 70, andthe like. The front camera 10 is mounted on a front of a vehicle andphotographs a front image of the vehicle. The display 20 displaysvehicle information which is necessary for driving the vehicle on awindshield glass of the vehicle. Here, the vehicle information includesa nearby vehicle mark sensed by the smart cruise control system 60, anactual inter-vehicle distance between the nearby vehicle and thedriver's own vehicle (the nearby vehicle may preferably be following thedriver's own vehicle), operation information (set or release) of thesmart cruise control system 60, a set inter-vehicle distance, a setdriving velocity, an actual driving velocity, a driving road information(e.g., a straight road, a curved road, an expressway, a general road,and the like), a fuel amount, and the like.

In addition, the display 20 is implemented as the augmented realityhead-up display (AR-HUD) by overlapping and displaying the vehicleinformation on the reality screen which is watched by the driver's eye.A display screen of the display 20 includes augmented reality displayregion in which nearby vehicle information is displayed in augmentedreality. The augmented reality display region has a predetermined regionallocated into the display screen of the augmented reality head-updisplay and is a region for displaying information in augmented reality.The augmented reality display region is an eyebox through which thedriver may clearly watch an image displayed by the augmented realityhead-up display.

The controller 30 sets setting information relating to smart cruisecontrol according to data (i.e., information) which is input through thedriver manipulation detector 70. Here, the setting information is thedriving velocity and an inter-vehicle between the own vehicle and thenearby vehicle. In addition, the controller 30 transmits the settinginformation which is set by the driver to the smart cruise controlsystem 60.

The controller 30 displays information relating to the smart cruisecontrol (i.e., smart cruise control related information) on theaugmented reality display region during the smart cruise control. Here,the information relating to the smart cruise control includes the nearbyvehicle indication information, the inter-vehicle distance between theset own vehicle and the nearby vehicle, and the like.

The controller 30 matches coordinates between the front imagetransmitted from the front camera 10 and the augmented reality displayregion in order to display information using the augmented reality. Inaddition, the controller 30 detects the nearby vehicle from the frontimage and checks a position of the detected nearby vehicle (i.e., acorresponding coordinate value in the augmented reality display region).The controller 30 displays the nearby vehicle indication informationindicating the nearby vehicle at one side end portion of the nearbyvehicle on the augmented reality display region based on the checkedposition of the nearby vehicle.

The controller 30 differently displays display information according tothe set inter-vehicle distance (i.e., set inter-vehicle distance displayinformation). For example, as shown in FIG. 2, in the case in which theset inter-vehicle distance may be set in four steps, if the setinter-vehicle distance is one step, it is displayed by one trapezoidalfigure, and as the step of the set inter-vehicle distance is increased,the number of trapezoidal figures is increased. That is, if the setinter-vehicle distance is changed to a two step, a three step, and afour step, the number of trapezoidal figures is increased by one.

In this case, a size (e.g., horizontal length×vertical length) of a setshape (e.g., a trapezoid) that constitutes the display informationaccording to the set inter-vehicle distance and an interval between theshapes set a reference value by a ratio (e.g., see FIG. 2). That is, thesize of the set shape and the interval between the shapes are determinedaccording to a size (e.g., D×H) of the information displayable region inthe augmented reality display region.

The controller 30 compares the actual inter-vehicle distance between thenearby vehicle and the driver's own vehicle to the set inter-vehicledistance, and performs a data process for the display informationcorresponding to the set inter-vehicle distance according to thecomparison result and displays it in the augmented reality displayregion.

The controller 30 detects a region which is occupied by the nearbyvehicle from the front image obtained by the front camera 10, when theactual inter-vehicle distance is less than the set inter-vehicledistance. In addition, the controller 30 extracts the informationdisplayable region capable of displaying the display information fromthe augmented reality display region based on the nearby vehicle regiondetected from the front image. In addition, the controller 30 extracts aregion excepting for the nearby vehicle region and the nearby vehicleindication display region which are extracted from the front image, asthe information displayable region. As shown in FIG. 3, the controller30 calculates a vertical length a of an information displayable region104 by subtracting a vertical length y of an overlapped region of anearby region 102 of a front image 101 and an augmented reality displayregion 103, and a vertical length z of a region in which the nearbyvehicle indication information is displayed, from a vertical length x ofthe augmented reality display region 103. Here, the vertical length z ofthe region in which the nearby vehicle indication information isdisplayed and the vertical length x of the augmented reality displayregion 103 are fixed variables.

The controller 30 scales the display information corresponding to theset inter-vehicle distance based on a size of the extracted informationdisplayable region. Meanwhile, if the actual inter-vehicle distance isequal to or greater than the set inter-vehicle distance, the controller30 checks whether or not the nearby vehicle gets out of the augmentedreality display region (i.e., whether or not it leaves the augmentedreality display region) using the front image.

If it is checked that the nearby vehicle gets out of the augmentedreality display region, the controller 30 compares a driving velocity ofthe nearby vehicle and a set driving velocity with each other anddisplays set inter-vehicle distance information according to thecomparison result.

If the driving velocity of the nearby vehicle is slower than the setdriving velocity, the controller 30 processes and displays perspective(i.e., perspective information) for the set inter-vehicle distancedisplay information. In this case, the controller 30 adjusts theperspective depending on the inter-vehicle distance between the ownvehicle and the nearby vehicle.

The inter-vehicle distance detector 40 measures a distance between thenearby vehicle (e.g., the vehicle following the driver's own vehicle,etc.) positioned at the front and the own vehicle using a radar sensor,an infrared sensor, a lidar sensor, or the like. The inter-vehicledistance detector 40 is used to monitor whether or not the distancebetween the own vehicle and the nearby vehicle is kept to be constantduring the smart cruise control. In addition, the inter-vehicle distancedetector 40 may calculate the driving velocity of the nearby vehicle bymeasuring a time taken when a radar waveform arrives at the nearbyvehicle and is then returned back.

The vehicle information detector 50 detects vehicle information such asstability and velocity of the vehicle (i.e., the driver's own vehicle)using a variety of sensors which are installed in the vehicle. Here, thevariety of sensors include a gyro sensor, a yaw rate sensor, a steeringangle sensor, a wheel velocity sensor, a vehicle velocity sensor, andthe like. The vehicle information detector 50 is connected to the sensorthrough a controller area network (CAN) bus interface.

The smart cruise control system 60 controls a drive of the own vehiclebased on information provided from the inter-vehicle distance detector40 and the vehicle information detector 50. The smart cruise controlsystem 60 controls an operation of a braking apparatus or a drivingapparatus of the own vehicle so as to be driven at the set drivingvelocity once the nearby vehicle to be followed is sensed and the setinter-vehicle distance from the sensed nearby vehicle is kept. Thedriver manipulation detector 70 detects information (e.g., the smartcruise control system setting/releasing instruction, setting informationof the distance between the nearby vehicle and the own vehicle, and thedriving velocity, and the like) which is input according to drivermanipulation.

The apparatus for displaying vehicle information includes a memory (notshown) in which a variety of data such as data generated according to anoperation of the apparatus for displaying vehicle information, referencedata, the vehicle information, the setting information, and the like arestored.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing a method for displaying vehicleinformation according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

First, the controller 30 activates the smart cruise control function inresponse to the driver manipulation (S11). Here, if the driver presses asmart cruise control function operation/release button, the controller30 operates (i.e., activates) or releases (i.e., deactivates) the smartcruise control system 60 in response to the button press.

The controller 30 activates the smart cruise control function and thensets the setting information relating to the smart cruise control (S12).For example, the controller 30 sets the driving velocity and/or theinter-vehicle distance according to data input from the drivermanipulation detector 70.

The controller 30 transmits the setting information to the smart cruisecontrol system 60 to allow the smart cruise control system 60 to controlthe smart cruise control of the own vehicle according to the settinginformation and displays related information relating to the smartcruise control on the augmented reality display region (S13). That is,the smart cruise control system 60 controls the drive of the own vehicleso that the inter-vehicle distance and the driving velocity which aremeasured by the inter-vehicle distance detector 40 and the vehicleinformation detector 50 are matched to the set inter-vehicle distanceand the set driving velocity. In addition, the controller 30 displaysthe nearby vehicle indication information and the inter-vehicle distancewhich is set (i.e., set inter-vehicle distance) on the augmented realitydisplay region of the display 20 in a graphic form.

The controller 30 checks whether or not the inter-vehicle distance isset, using the setting information (S14). In other words, the controller30 checks whether or not the set inter-vehicle distance is included inthe setting information (S14).

If the inter-vehicle distance is set, the controller 30 compares theactual inter-vehicle distance between the own vehicle and the nearbyvehicle with the set inter-vehicle distance (S15). In this case, thesmart cruise control system 60 transmits the actual inter-vehicledistance which is measure by the inter-vehicle distance detector 40 tothe controller 30. The controller 30 checks whether or not the actualinter-vehicle distance provided from the smart cruise control system 60is less than the set inter-vehicle distance.

If the actual inter-vehicle distance is less than the set inter-vehicledistance, the controller 30 checks the information displayable region inthe augmented reality display region (S16). That is, if the actualinter-vehicle distance is less than the set inter-vehicle distance, thecontroller 30 extracts the information displayable region capable ofdisplaying the smart cruise control related information from theaugmented reality display region using the front image.

The controller 30 displays the display information corresponding to theset inter-vehicle distance on the information displayable region (S17).As the comparison result obtained by comparing the actual inter-vehicledistance with the set inter-vehicle distance, if the actualinter-vehicle distance is equal to or greater than the set inter-vehicledistance, the controller 30 checks whether or not the nearby vehiclegets out of the augmented reality display region using the front image(S18). In this case, the controller 30 detects the nearby vehicle fromthe front image and checks the position (e.g., coordinate) of thedetected nearby vehicle to thereby check whether or not the nearbyvehicle gets out of the augmented reality display region. If the nearbyvehicle is outside of the augmented reality display region, thecontroller 30 checks the information displayable region in the augmentedreality display region and displays the set inter-vehicle distancedisplay information on the checked information displayable region (S16,S17).

The controller 30 checks whether or not the information displayableregion has a size capable of displaying the set inter-vehicle distancedisplay information having a default size. If the default size of theset inter-vehicle distance display information exceeds the size of theinformation displayable region, the controller 30 scales the setinter-vehicle distance display information based on the size of theinformation displayable region.

Meanwhile, if the actual inter-vehicle distance is the set inter-vehicledistance or more and the nearby vehicle gets out of the augmentedreality display region, the controller 30 processes perspective for theset inter-vehicle distance display information and displays the setinter-vehicle distance display information which is subjected to theperspective process on the information displayable region. Thecontroller 30 processes the prospective for the set inter-vehicledistance display information based on the actual inter-vehicle distance,a vehicle width of the nearby vehicle which is extracted from the frontimage, or the like.

In this case, the controller 30 may stop displaying of the setinter-vehicle distance display information depending on the comparisonresult of the driving velocity of the nearby vehicle and the set drivingvelocity. In other words, the controller 30 measures the drivingvelocity of the nearby vehicle using the inter-vehicle distance detector40, and compares the measured driving velocity of the nearby vehiclewith the set driving velocity of the own vehicle. If the drivingvelocity of the nearby vehicle is less than the set driving velocity,the controller 30 outputs the set inter-vehicle distance displayinformation, and if the driving velocity of the nearby vehicle isgreater than the set driving velocity, the controller 30 stopsdisplaying of the set inter-vehicle distance display information. In thecase in which the driving velocity of the nearby vehicle is greater thanthe set driving velocity, since the distance between the driver's ownvehicle and the nearby vehicle is gradually increased and the nearbyvehicle is unlikely to enter the augmented reality display region, thereis no sense in displaying the set inter-vehicle distance. Therefore, thecontroller 30 stops outputting of the display information indicating theset inter-vehicle distance and controls the smart cruise control system60 to thereby control the own vehicle to be driven at the set drivingvelocity.

Meanwhile, if the actual inter-vehicle distance is the set inter-vehicledistance or more and the nearby vehicle is not outside of the augmentedreality display region, the controller 30 displays the set inter-vehicledistance display information on the augmented reality display regionaccording to an existing scheme (S19). Meanwhile, if the inter-vehicledistance is not set when setting the setting information, the controller30 displays only the nearby vehicle indication information (S20).

FIG. 5 is an illustrative view showing a process of scaling the setinter-vehicle distance display information according to embodiments ofthe present disclosure, and FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example ofprocessing perspective for the set inter-vehicle distance displayinformation according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

In the case in which the set inter-vehicle distance is three steps andthe actual inter-vehicle distance is two steps, since the nearby vehicleis positioned within augmented reality display region, the regioncapable of displaying the set inter-vehicle distance is limited, suchthat the nearby vehicle may not be displayed by the default size of theset inter-vehicle distance display information (a). Therefore, thecontroller 30 detects a nearby vehicle region which is occupied by thenearby vehicle within the augmented reality display region using thefront image which is photographed by the front camera 10, and extractsan information displayable region 104 except for the nearby vehicleregion and a region displaying the nearby vehicle indication informationin the augmented reality display region.

In addition, the controller 30 scales the set inter-vehicle distancedisplay information based on a size (e.g., a vertical length a) of theinformation displayable region 104 (e.g., b-c). For example, if thevertical length of the information displayable region is a, thecontroller 30 scales a height of a trapezoidal figure to, e.g., a X0.33.

Next, if the distance between the nearby vehicle and the driver's ownvehicle is substantially equal to (i.e., matched within an error range)to the set inter-vehicle distance by the smart cruise control system 60,the controller 30 changes a display form and scheme of the setinter-vehicle distance display information. For example, the controller30 changes color of the set inter-vehicle distance display information(d).

Here, the controller 30 continuously scales the set inter-vehicledistance display information as the distance between the nearby vehicleand the own vehicle is changed. A case in which the set inter-vehicledistance is one step and the nearby vehicle gets out of the augmentedreality display region will be described with reference to FIG. 6, byway of example.

In the case in which the nearby vehicle is outside of the augmentedreality display region, and the driving velocity of the nearby vehicleis less than the set driving velocity of the own vehicle, the controller30 processes the perspective information by adjusting a hypotenusegradient of the trapezoidal figure constituting the set inter-vehicledistance display information.

In this case, the controller 30 adjusts the hypotenuse gradient of thetrapezoidal figure depending on the distance between the nearby vehicleand the own vehicle. For example, the controller 30 extracts ahorizontal width (e.g., vehicle width) of the nearby vehicle from thefront image and determines the extracted horizontal width as a top sidelength of the trapezoidal figure in a state in which a length of a lowerbase of the trapezoidal figure is fixed. Therefore, as the distancebetween the own vehicle and the nearby vehicle decreases, since thehypotenuse gradient of the trapezoidal figure gradually increases, thedriver may recognize that the nearby vehicle approaches the own vehicle.

The embodiments described above are those in which the components andfeatures according to the present disclosure are coupled to each otherin a predetermined form. The respective components or features should beconsidered being selective unless explicitly stated. The respectivecomponents or features may be implemented in a form in which they arenot coupled to other components or features. It is also possible toconfigure the embodiments of the present disclosure by coupling somecomponents and/or features. An order of operations described in theembodiments of the present disclosure may be changed. Someconfigurations or features of the embodiments may be included in otherembodiments or may be exchanged with corresponding configurations orfeatures in other embodiments. It will be apparent that the accompanyingclaims which do not have an explicit recitation relationship in thefollowing claims are coupled to configure embodiments or may be includedas new claims by an amendment after being filed.

The embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by variousmeans, for example, hardware, firmware, software, or a combinationthereof, or the like. In the implementation by hardware, embodimentsembodiment of the present disclosure may be implemented by one or moreapplication specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signalprocessors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs),programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays(FPGAs), processors, controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, orthe like.

In the implementation by firmware or software, embodiments of thepresent disclosure may be implemented in forms such as modules,procedures, functions, or the like, that perform functions or operationsdescribed above. Software codes are stored in a memory unit and may bedriven by a processor. The memory unit is disposed inside or outside theprocessor and may transmit and receive data to and from the processor bythe well-known various means.

As described above, according to embodiments of the present disclosure,it is possible to provide convenience to the driver because theinter-vehicle distance information may be displayed on the limitedaugmented reality display region of the head-up display (HUD) to behighly recognizable during the smart cruise control.

It is apparent to those skilled in the art that the present disclosuremay be embodied in other specific forms without departing from featuresof the present disclosure. Accordingly, the detail description asdescribed above is not interpreted as being limited in all views, but isto be considered as being illustrative. The scope of the presentdisclosure should be determined by reasonable interpretation of theaccompanying claims, and all modifications which fall in the equivalentscope of the present disclosure are included in the scope of the presentdisclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for displaying vehicle information, themethod comprising: setting a driving velocity and an inter-vehicledistance after activating a smart cruise control function; performing asmart cruise control according to the set driving velocity and the setinter-vehicle distance and displaying smart cruise control-relatedinformation in an augmented reality display region located in a frontportion of a driver's own vehicle; comparing an actual inter-vehicledistance between the driver's own vehicle and a nearby vehicle to theset inter-vehicle distance during performance of the smart cruisecontrol; determining a state in which display information cannot bedisplayed on the augmented reality display region by one or more figuresaccording to the set inter-vehicle distance when the actualinter-vehicle distance is less than the set inter-vehicle distance;determining an information displayable region in the augmented realitydisplay region; and scaling the display information depending on a sizeof the information displayable region and displaying the scaled displayinformation, wherein a vertical length of the information displayableregion is calculated by subtracting a vertical length of an overlappingregion of a nearby vehicle region of a front image and the augmentedreality display region, and a vertical length of a region in whichnearby vehicle indication information is displayed, from a verticallength of the augmented reality display region.
 2. The method accordingto claim 1, wherein the determining of the information displayableregion includes: detecting the nearby vehicle region from the frontimage obtained by a front camera, and extracting the informationdisplayable region, which is capable of displaying the displayinformation, except for a region corresponding to the nearby vehicleregion, and a nearby vehicle indication information display region fromthe augmented reality display region.
 3. The method according to claim1, further comprising: checking whether or not the nearby vehicle isoutside of the augmented reality display region when the actualinter-vehicle distance is equal to or greater than the set inter-vehicledistance, and processing and displaying perspective information for thedisplay information corresponding to the set inter-vehicle distance whenthe preceding vehicle is outside of the augmented reality displayregion.
 4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the processing anddisplaying of the perspective information includes: measuring drivingvelocity of the nearby vehicle, checking whether or not the drivingvelocity of the nearby vehicle is less than the set driving velocity,and processing the perspective information for the display informationwhen the driving velocity of the nearby vehicle is less than the setdriving velocity.
 5. The method according to claim 4, further comprisingstopping the displaying of the display information when the drivingvelocity of the preceding vehicle is greater than the set drivingvelocity.
 6. The method according to claim 4, wherein in the processingof the perspective information, the perspective information for thedisplay information is processed based on a vehicle width of the nearbyvehicle in a front image obtained by a front camera.
 7. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein when the actual inter-vehicle distance isequal to the set inter-vehicle distance, color of the displayinformation is changed.